CNN catches up with Michael Penn on the occasion of his “best of” collection’s release — which is, in itself, a curious story of how corporate consolidation can actually benefit the kinds of “dropped” major label acts I wrote about…
Category
Grow Your Audience
Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero – Best Fan Marketing Ever
While Nancy at Online Fandom covered this nearly a month ago, the guys at 37signals have a pretty thorough recap of the tremendous marketing campaign behind the new Nine Inch Nails record. It’s a great example of the kinds of…
WaPo’s Joshua Bell Busking Experiment
UPDATE 4.9.07: Some experienced buskers brainstorm about ways Joshua could have upped his collections that morning — some really great ideas! For anyone who’s ever made more money from subway busking than from a club gig, here’s a fascinating experiment…
Musicians Use Macs and Get Paid
Merlin Mann offers three really insightful guests on The Merlin Show: The last week or so of The Merlin Show has featured three fun interviews with independent musicians — talking about Macs, handling email, and figuring out how to get…
“Stay the Hell Away from Labels,” says Dick Dale
You might not know the name Dick Dale, but I guarantee you’ve heard his music if you’ve lived in the U.S.A. for more than, say, a week. And he’s got some compelling instructions for young musicians in this short video,…
You Just Can’t Beat These Kids
Wired editor Chris Anderson finds music biz veteran Bob Lefsetz a little exasperating, but points out yesterday’s post about sweat equity among independent musicians. Labels don’t understand the economics of online music, because there’s not much in it to support…
Getting Over the MySpace Hump
Nancy’s got some great coverage of artists who are discovering that they’ve got to migrate their audience away from MySpace onto their own websites so they can really start to benefit from their relationships with fans. Here’s one funny story…
UK: Where Music is a National Religion
Lefsetz sums up many of the reasons I loved living in the UK. Even when I was down to my last few quid before payday, I could still afford to see some great shows. The vibe really is different, and…
How to Get Through My Slush Pile
Are my ears buzzing? If so, you stand a better chance of getting on my radar. And that doesn’t just go for me, it goes for every A&R person, every radio programmer, and every journalist that you want to recruit…
Listeners Use Your Music in Context — How You Can Spread Your Own Music Using iMixes
Listen to this great description of how one listener uses and enjoys iMix selections from the Apple iTunes Music Store. People in America used to use radio and mixtapes for that kind of experience, but now they turn to other…
Why Are Reality Shows So Good At Creating Hit Music?
“Sampling Creates Audience.” It’s a phrase we used to use a lot around my office when I worked in radio, and it’s true no matter what business you’re in. While radio has worked hard to weed out the unfamiliar, television…
In the Age of the Long Tail, What Does a Hit Mean?
Plenty of debate has been swirling around Chris Anderson’s notion of the “Long Tail,” including Marc Fisher’s Washington Post column. Fisher posits that audiences still crave “hits” and that musicians (like other creative people) will always strive to reach the…